Image of Fernand Gravey

Fernand Gravey

1905-12-25 Ixelles, Brabant, Belgium

Image of Fernand Gravey

Biografia

Fernand Gravey (25 December 1905 in Ixelles (Belgium) – 2 November 1970 in Paris, France), also known as Fernand Gravet in the United States, was the son of actors Georges Mertens and Fernande Depernay, who appeared in silent films produced by pioneer Belge Cinéma Film (a subsidiary of Pathé). Gravey started performing at age five under his father's direction. Before World War I, he received an education in Britain and could speak both French and English fluently, something which became useful in his movie roles. During the war, Gravey served in the British Merchant Marine Corp. In 1936, he married the French actress Jane Renouardt, who was 15 years his senior. They remained together until his death on 2 November 1970 of a heart-attack. Jane died on 3 February 1972. They had no children. Gravey performed in four films in 1913 and 1914 (as Fernand Mertens), but his first film of importance was L'Amour Chante, released in 1930. In 1933, he made Bitter Sweet, his first English language movie, which became more famous in its 1940 incarnation with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. In 1937, after several more French and British movies, Gravey went to Hollywood, where the spelling of his last name was altered to Gravet, and he became the focus of a rather extensive Hollywood publicity campaign (instructing moviegoers to pronounce his name properly: "Rhymes with Gravy"). Unfortunately for Gravey, he was offered only standard parts, the type of Gallic-lover roles that Louis Jourdan played in the 1950s and 1960s. The first two films he made in Hollywood were for Warner Brothers: The King and the Chorus Girl (1937), with Joan Blondell and Jane Wyman, and Fools for Scandal (1938), with Carole Lombard and Ralph Bellamy. Gravey then signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was cast as Johann Strauss in the expensive biopic The Great Waltz, with Luise Rainer and Miliza Korjus. MGM next planned to star Gravey in a film version of Rafael Sabatini's adventure novel Scaramouche, but instead he returned to France just before the Nazi occupation began. Although he had agreed to appear in German-approved French films, Gravey was an underminer of the invaders as a member of the French Secret Army and the Foreign Legion. At the end of the war, Gravey was considered a war hero, and continued to be featured in French productions such as La Ronde (with Danielle Darrieux), and Royal Affairs in Versailles (1954). Among his last English language performances were How to Steal a Million (1966), Guns for San Sebastian (1968) and The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969), in which he played the police inspector. Source: Article "Fernand Gravey" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Películas

That's Entertainment, Part II (archive footage) 1976-05-16
L'explosion Labrize 1971-07-21
Pas moral pour deux sous Daniel Wilde 1971-06-04
Les Caprices de Marie Captain Ragot 1970-02-25
Promise at Dawn Jean-Michel Serusier 1970-11-25
The Madwoman of Chaillot Police sergeant 1969-10-12
La Bataille de San Sebastian Governor 1968-03-20
How to Steal a Million Grammont 1966-07-13
La dama de Beirut Dr. Castello 1965-11-15
Les croulants se portent bien François Legrand 1961-11-15
Le Temps des œufs durs Raoul Grandvivier 1958-03-19
Totò a Parigi Il dottor Duclos 1958-10-23
L'École des cocottes Stanislas de La Ferronière 1958-05-21
La Garçonne Georges Sauvage 1957-04-05
Courte-tête Olivier Parker, le faux entraîneur hippique, escroc 1956-10-10
Mitsou ou Comment l'esprit vient aux filles... Pierre Duroy-Lelong 1956-12-24
Treize à table Antoine Villardier 1955-12-28
Si Versailles m'était conté Molière 1954-02-10
Mon mari est merveilleux Claude Chatel 1953-04-29
L'età dell'amore Padre di Andrea, presidente del tribunale 1953-08-23
Le Plus Heureux des hommes Armand Dupuis-Martin 1952-11-26
Ma femme est formidable Raymond Corbier, sculpteur et mari de Sylvia 1951-12-05
Mademoiselle Josette, ma femme André Ternay 1950-09-20
La Ronde Charles Breitkopf, son mari 1950-09-27
Le Traqué Commissioner Dufresne 1950-11-15
Gunman in the Streets Commissioner Dufresne 1950-12-13
Du Guesclin Bertrand du Guesclin 1949-06-03
Capitaine Blomet Blomet 1947-12-10
Il suffit d'une fois Jacques Reval 1946-10-23
Paméla Paul Barras 1945-05-02
La Rabouilleuse Colonel Philippe Brideau 1944-02-02
Domino Dominique 1943-07-28
Le Capitaine Fracasse Baron de Cigognac 1943-06-19
La Nuit fantastique Denis 1942-07-10
Romance à trois Charles 1942-06-17
Histoire de rire Gérard Barbier 1941-12-18
Paradis perdu Pierre Leblan 1939-10-27
Le Dernier Tournant Frank Maurice 1939-05-17
The Great Waltz Johann 'Schani' Strauss II 1938-11-04
Fools for Scandal Rene 1938-04-16
Breakdowns of 1938 Rene (archive footage) (uncredited) 1938-12-31
Hollywood Goes to Town Self 1938-07-07
Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 6 Self 1938-02-04
Le Mensonge de Nina Petrovna Lieutenant Franz Korff 1937-11-04
The King and the Chorus Girl Alfred Bruger VII 1937-03-27
Le Grand Refrain Charles Panard 1936-09-18
Mister Flow Antonin Rose 1936-12-02
Sept hommes, une femme Viscount Brémontier 1936-08-28
Antonia, romance hongroise Captain Douglas Parker 1935-01-25
Monsieur Sans-Gêne Fernand Martin 1935-03-14
Fanfare d'amour Jean Rameau / Jeanette, piano des " Tulipes Hollandaises " 1935-11-16
Varieté Pierre 1935-10-04
Touche-à-tout Georges Martin aka 'Touche-à-Tout' 1935-11-01
Si j'étais le patron Henri Janvier 1934-10-25
C'était un musicien Jean 1934-05-11
The Queen's Affair Carl 1934-03-01
La Guerre des valses Franz 1933-12-15
Bitter Sweet Carl Linden 1933-08-21
Le Père prématuré Édouard Puma & Fred 1933-09-29
Early to Bed Carl 1933-08-08
Coiffeur pour dames Mario 1932-05-19
Passionnément Robert Perceval 1932-09-20
Tu seras duchesse Marquis André de la Cour 1932-02-12
Le Fils improvisé Fernand Brassart 1932-11-22
Une étoile disparaît Self 1932-08-22
Un homme en habit André de Lussanges 1931-06-26
Marions-nous Francis Latour 1931-03-06
L'amour chante Armand Petitjean 1930-11-21
La fille de Delft Jonge Jefke / Young Jefke 1914-04-23
Saïda a enlevé Manneken-Pis Fernand Mertens 1913-03-07
Monsieur Beulemeester, garde civique Le petit Paul 1913-12-20